The present invention relates to wheel hub assemblies employed in vehicles having front or rear driving wheels and an independent suspension, said assemblies being of the type comprising a wheel flange, a rolling bearing including an inner race adjacent the flange and an outer race and rolling elements disposed between said races, and a transmission joint disposed radially inside the rolling bearing.
It is known that in vehicles having driving wheels including an independent suspension, the wheel hub assembly must include a wheel flange proper, a rolling bearing and a transmission joint. In order to reduce as far as possible the angle of deviation of the joint without excessively increasing the width of the vehicle, it is advantageous to arrange that the joint be disposed radially within the rolling bearing. In such an assembly, it is conventional to employ a single member which constitutes a wheel flange, the inner race of the rolling bearing and the outer element of the transmission joint. The use of such a member performing several functions has several drawbacks:
as this member is in one piece, it is made from a material which is capable of satisfying the requirements of the rolling bearing function and is therefore made from a high quality and consequently expensive material;
this main member is difficult to produce in mass production since it is heavy and has a very asymmetrical shape; moreover, it has many high precision dimensions with the result that there is a high risk of rejection; it requires machining operations such as tapping which jeopardize its reliability;
the heat which is generated by the use of brakes is transmitted to the whole of the member and in particular to the part thereof adjacent the wheel flange, constituted by the inner race of the rolling bearing and by the outer element of the transmission joint, and this disturbs the correct operation of these two components (rolling bearing and joint) and the corresponding sealing elements.